36 replies to this topic

[bigbeef161]

the best way i stopped quitting gambling was filling out a form which all arcades should have!!

you have to sign your signature to bar yourself for six months up to 2 years and if you step foot in that arcade after signing the form they phone the police on ya! :wink:

[subderma]

wifes lol :stupid:

i remember mine (was just engaged at the time) throwing my ring at me for spening £15 on ooh dracula in blackpool

sad thing was she had spent £20 in the silly 2p sliding thing

[g-man]

My opinion is that if you think you have a bad habit,or play more than you should,then yes,you are an addict
I also think that if you are are,or have been an addict,the only way to break that addiction is to cut machines out of your life completely.
That means physically remove yourself from their vicinity,and refuse to get involved in even thinking about them.
That's a pretty tall order,and in a this country,which is practically awash with fruit machines(and set to have even more if the the gambling industry gets its way),virtually impossible.
Unless you *do* move to some isolated area with no pubs,clubs,arcades or AWPs in the lacal takeaways,temptation will *always* be staring you in the face.
So I think the best you can do is to find a sensible way to *manage* your addiction-but be prepared,it can be hard work.

[eddiec]

Like many people here, from what i have read, i was (and probably still am) an addict to those damn things so i know your want/need to stop playing them..... most likely several tens of thousands of pounds over a 15year span from teenhood through mid-20's... had to surrender my bank card & cheque book from repeatedly going overdrawn. [note: in america, writing a cheque knowing you don't have the funds, that you'll go overdrawn is called fraud - do that 3 times in California and you could end up in jail permanently because of their 3-strikes law]

The way i managed to stop playing the damn things was by moving to America. The machines over here SUCK - no features, except on the computerised ones now and it's "acceptable" for machines to stop between symbols. (First time i saw that i was like wtf?? Second comment was "that's just bollocks") Although saying that, i went to Las Vegas to support a client during a convention and found myself playing the damn things as there was/is nothing else to do there at least during the day, so it shows that i'm not "cured", i'm just not going to casinos as that's the only places that have fruities over here. (Arcades are very different over here - doesn't mean i won't play video games tho

I wish you good luck in your quest to stop playing. It's going to be damn hard seeing as they're everywhere.

[high roller]

there are two sorts of gamblers on fruitys. those who play to win(but normally don't),and those who play for fun. i am both! you dont care what you play as long as you play them(even the totally crap ones).
i found the easiest way to help me sort of stop gambling,for a while anyway, was to buy my own £100 jackpot fruit machine for home use. you have the keys, so whatever you put in is yours at the end of the day.a large piggy bank in other words. i had my machine in 1985. i only had it in the house for 3 months(mother had a strop when she saw it and it was me or the machine goes) and it saved me over £1200 in 3 months,and that was a lot of money in them days. i have been gambling for 20 years in casinos and clubs and have lost thousands.i belong to 14 casinos in london alone and only last week i lost £500 in one machine,(£2000 jackpot & hopper was full when i started playing so your brain tells you go on it must drop soon,but the thing most people dont know is when the jackpot pays out the hopper is re filled by the casino so it could take another week before it pays again).
anyway the other option is to get someone to rap a whole roll of selotape around each hand so you cant pick the coins up,but be warned,when you want to go to the toilet you cant get your flys undone. :?

[g-man]

there are two sorts of gamblers on fruitys. those who play to win(but normally don't),and those who play for fun.

Where is the 'fun' that doesn't involve trying to win? :-?

I think the *only* reason to play them is to gamble(IE,play to win).
Granted,most people end up losing,but that doesn't mean they didn't set out hoping to win.
Chasing losses leads to addiction,and fruitmachines are designed to make you chase losses,which is why they are so horribly addictive.

[RB]

Fruit machines are designed to rob you of as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time....
Think every time you play one sober or not..that this is paying for the arcade owner or fruit machine company bosses....holidays, kids private schooling, new Bmw, mortgage etc...any real gambler will tell you that the losses out weigh the wins....however large or small. Losing your wife, house and kids over something as stupid as putting a coin in a box with numbers and lights just aint worth it.... If you really need the buzz..just invest in your most fav fruitie and buy the twat and do it at home....but if thats not enough then start looking else where for the problems.....


Now such the f*** up and enjoy life.......So sayeth the Preacher RB

[subderma]

come do what im doing now 8)

going fishing 8)

[stevie300online]

Pash

I read your post a couple of days ago and have thought about the responses so far. Whatever anyone says, the thrill of playing an actual machine where you are putting the money in makes the all the difference. Investing in your own machine or playing the emulations is not the same. Of course, the actual playability maybe the same, but gambling higher or lower than a 2 when you have a £10 win is neither here nor there when you are not playing for real cash.

I probably wouldn't have posted anything here at all except that I read a post tonight that brought up the old topic about 'fair play campaign'. It got me thinking. Do we all think about this when we are actually playing a fruity? We all really know that the outcome of the game is predetermined by the machine, but that seems to go out of our head when playing an actual machine. It's crazy really when you think about it. There are so many rules that say things like 'hold all three, rub your lucky rabbits foot and the Bars are guarenteed to come in'. This is normally followed by 'well it worked for me once!" The flashy layouts and gameplay is just a teaser. The machine will only pay out 70ish% at minimum, and so were never going to win over time. We all know this, and no one in their right minds can actually believe that they can make a profit out of machines. The only people who make the profit (apart from the robbing landlords, manufacturing companies and the like) are the ones who don't know how to play the machine and put £1 just for the sake of it, win £2 and walk away. We've all seen it....and we've all gone "the fools, it is going to pay out any minute" - followed by "bastard, I've just put a £20 in there and no sign of a win, not even the cherries!" If we all forgot about the emptiers, the tricks and watching everyone else lose a £20 without a win, we'd all be better off. What we should be thinking of is "this game is not down to my skill, it's a raffle" I'm sure that many of you will not agree with this, but truthfully, how may of you will take a win on a machine and pump it all back in hoping for the bigger win. If this is the case, you are a fruity addict and will NEVER win over the long term.

Anyway, this is just my opinion, and I hope you're successful with your detox.

Good luck


Stevie300online

[jayroller]

pash, theres no easy way to stop playing. i found that out when I 'stopped' playing. I say stopped but i haven't really. I play now only when i have some spare cash left over at hte end of the week. When i get the the urge to play I try to find something else to do, read a book, play on the ps2 or something time consuming,anything to take your mind of it and i think about what else i could spend the money on, Its all about will power and whether you really want to stop. You'll have to find a hobby something you enjoy doing and can do when that urge kicks in. smoke some weed after a joint you cant be arsed to stand up in front off a fruity :stoned: (only joking swapping one addiction for another is not the way to go).

At the end of the day its all down to you m8 I hope you do kick the habit it's not going to be easy and dont let anyone tell you otherwise. if you find a system that works for you stick to it and hopefully you will eventually be able to walk past a machine with out batting an eyelid

good luck

[subderma]

how may of you will take a win on a machine and pump it all back in hoping for the bigger win.

Stevie300online

personally when i play a fruit machine i start with £5 to £10 dependingon whatchange i have what ever i win over the original amount i put in put into my pocket and keep playing with the original amount when thats gone i stop playing

i.e if i play with £7 and win £12 from it i put £5 in my pocket(which does not come out again) and then play again with the original £7 i might only get £4 back so i can play with that and so on and so on if you try it you will find that you spend the same amount of time playing a fruit machine (unlessyou lose straight off) and won't actually lose as much money ' im guarenting you will win you will still probably be at a loss but not as much as spending every pound coin you can physically get your hands on

[stevie300online]

how may of you will take a win on a machine and pump it all back in hoping for the bigger win.

Stevie300online

personally when i play a fruit machine i start with £5 to £10 dependingon whatchange i have what ever i win over the original amount i put in put into my pocket and keep playing with the original amount when thats gone i stop playing

That's a good philosophy as long as you can stick to it. With that attitude, you've gotta admit that you are not an addict. The problem most fruity players get is when you've put that final pound in and the last play puts you one off the features board. You feel compelled to dive into your pocket and put another pound in rather than leave it wondering what would have happened - and that's the addiction.

[g-man]

if i play with £7 and win £12 from it i put £5 in my pocket(which does not come out again) and then play again with the original £7 i might only get £4 back so i can play with that and so on and so on ...

But what happens if you put the original £7 in and win nothing?
Are you saying you can just happily walk away?

[minormatt]

When I first realised I had a problem was when I was fifteen (1989)and I had a job at a screen printers after school earing around £3.00 an hour for 4 hours a night, 5 nights a week then double time and treble time on a weekend. Christmas that year I had my wages from work around £200 and £150 my mother gave me for xmas clothes, £300 was spent on the bandits and the other fifty pound was spent buying crap trainers and clothes which I had to lie about the price to mum, I had a crap xmas which should of been great as I should of been loaded.

Since then Ive spent £1000`s never learning feeling gutted, walking home from town and missing out on going out and having fun.

This changes as you get older and I personally think its bordem and a lack of imagination and a sense of wanting to be in control, I find that I can now take them or leave them no problem, so dont think its always going to be like this, get a hobby some thing that gives you a buzz try something new, anything with a buzz, good luck m8

[dtrmad2004]

i learnt the real hard way i used to get paid from work about £200 and i would promise myself that i wouldnt go to the arcades . but i would sorta end up going past the arcades on the way to a mates and i would say oh alright only a fiver but then a fiver would turn into £20 then 50 then £150 and i would probably walk out with about £10 in my pocket for the week for fags and petrol for my bike and would have to lie to my mum that i lost the money or i bought this really good go faster part for my bike but i was wishing that i had done that in the first place the reason i learnt the hard way is that sometimes i spent all my wages so i had no petrol for work and because of that i got sacked . i really was that bad ive had enough shitty xmases when ive spent three weeks worth of money in about 3 days and i end up not being able to buy my family any presents and felling like a right scrooge. so ive got no money right now and no way to play the fruitys and at the moment im not missing them and thats the way i hope its going to stay.
thanx
andy

[JollyCribber]

Many years ago when i was a teenager i started gambling & became hooked, I turned into a thief & a liar and spending hundreds every week it got so bad my parents put me into care when i was 16 & it still didnt stop me (it didnt help living in a resort town with arcades etc) I then ended up in juvenile court and that scared the s*** out of me the jusge then suggested I go to Gamblers Anonymous, It was very strange at 1st but it helped to give me the strength to at least say "No" most of the time and ever since I have had alot more control, sure sometimes i go mad spending 20-30 quid on one but i always have money in my pocket after, the way i look at it is this....what do you want out of life? do u a) be skint have no friends and live in a dump or do u want to make a success out of your life? I recommend it will be hard but take a long look at yourself and decide what u want, only you can change your life, no one else can and in a few yrs if u kick the habit u can look back and say to yourself u did it & if u can do that its a better buzz then winning on a machine

u can do it trust me

[Steinman]

Try to work out why you gamble on them? Boredom, the "buzz" etc
Find something/someone to occupy your time.
I was lucky I found a girlfriend. Have posted about her before, so wont go on about it.
It may sound crazy but plan any route when going out to avoid arcades/pubs/chip shops with fruit machines. If you cant see one / hear one you lessen the chance of getting dragged in by your weakened spirit. (oh its only a fiver etc).
Take one day @ a time.
Play the emulators - if you get any urges. So what if you sit @ PC 24/7. You ain't spending ya cash!
You say you want to give up. Good for you. Admitting you need to stop is a great start.

I never went Gamb Anony but doesnt mean you cant.
GOOD LUCK
It is not easy. But you can pull through.